This may come as a surprise, but Ahmedabad lags behind Navsari, Tapi and even Narmada as far as percentage of children vaccinated for basic vaccinations is concerned. The National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) found that only 50% of children in Gujarat (in 12-23 months age group) received all basic vaccinations against six major childhood illnesses (tuberculosis, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, and measles).
Ahmedabad had 49% of children in the age group vaccinated against these basic illnesses, less than the vaccination percentage for Gujarat (50%). Interestingly, the data also shows that Surat had a lower percentage of children (48%) vaccinated against the six major childhood illnesses. Navsari (79%), Tapi (73%), Jamnagar (69%) and even state capital Gandhinagar (66%) had a higher percentage of children that had been vaccinated.
Panchmahals and Patan have the lowest coverage at 30% and 31% respectively. But those who have been part of the government's vaccination drive said such low coverage cannot be possible.
"The data you have quoted is for Ahmedabad district which includes talukas such as Viramgam, Dhandhuka and Dholka. We take care of Ahmedabad city and I can tell you that the basic vaccination coverage here is 95%," said Dr Divyang Oza, Superintendent of the vaccination programme, AMC. He said often a survey is a result of the sample size that was chosen. "We need to look at the sample size and where it has been taken from. There is no way Ahmedabad's coverage can be so poor," said Dr Oza.
In fact, the civic body was not only identifying resistant pockets in the city but even carrying out evenings sessions for vaccinations, he said. A government official who had closely worked on vaccination drive too said the percentage seemed too low. "I'm not saying Ahmedabad has 100% coverage, but it surely is more than 50%," said the official. He said one reason for the low percentage could be the migrant population. "Although there is a system to track the migrant population to ensure vaccination for their children, often they fall through the net.
This affects the overall vaccination coverage. This is particularly true of intrastate migration," said the officer who did not wish to be identified.
The survey also found that nine per cent of children in the state did not receive any vaccination. It also found that coverage of basic vaccinations does not vary by urban or rural residence. It also found that the possibility of vaccination coverage declines with the order of birth (means the last born likely to miss more vaccination).
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